NEIGHBORS HAVE 'RUFF' TIME

Consider two cases that the city's Code Enforcement Board heard last week.

In one, dogs are running around a fence and into a neighbor's yard, where they defecate.

In the other, a dog's constant yelping is forcing the neighbor to seek treatment for stress.

Scott and Stacy Hood, of the 10400 block of Northwest 17th Place, were found in violation of a city code that forbids owners from allowing dogs to run free or defecate on another's property.

The Hoods, who didn't attend the hearing, were ordered to stop their dogs from going into the neighbor's yard in 10 days or pay a fine of $100 each day that the violation occurs.

"I'll keep my video camera handy," said the neighbor, William J. Carraher, who taped the dogs doing their thing in his yard on five occasions.

According to Carraher, the fence between the yards ends before it reaches the lake in back of their houses, leaving enough room for the dogs to go around. He said it is the Hoods' responsibility to extend the fence.

Although the Hoods weren't at the hearing, Stacy Hood later said: "I didn't go because I didn't want to give [Carraher) the satisfaction of going . . . I think it's ridiculous . . . There are a million dogs running around all the time."

In the other case, the board, in a 5-2 vote, determined that Jan P. Beal, of the 9300 block of Northwest 23rd Street, hadn't violated the code by allowing his 4 1/2-month-old Labrador retriever to bark incessantly all day.

The not-guilty decision was the only verdict the board could reach after four tries.

"This may be an impossible problem to solve," board Chairman Lou Manfra said.

Board members had advice for both neighbors.

To Jan and Dennise Beal: "If I were you, I'd try to keep the dog in the house to show good faith," board member Jim Ryan said.

To their neighbor, Gene Nevers: "You should try to be a good neighbor, be friendly to the dog, bring some biscuits out to it," Manfra said.

If the problem continues, Manfra suggested that Nevers, 78, seek a solution in court.

Nevers testified that during the 21 years he has lived in his house he has never had a problem with a neighbor until the Beals moved in last year.

The problem started after his wife had a heart attack and he asked the Beals to quiet their dog, which "was howling like a coyote," Nevers said.

The response from his neighbor was to "shut up and leave," Nevers testified before the code board.

The problem, Nevers said, is that the Beals leave the dog outside when they go to work and it barks constantly.

"This dog is a vicious beast, I just step outside and I see his fangs," Nevers said.

Dennise Beal said everyone blames her when a dog barks in the neighborhood.

Nevers, she added, "needs to put a wooden fence up for his health."

A chain-link fence now separates the two homes.

Code board member Marion Hymes also suggested leaving the dog inside while the family is at work.

Dennise Beal said she can't.

"If the dog is in the house all day he could mess the house up," she testified.